South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said England captain Michael Vaughan had got what he deserved from ‘Mother Cricket’ after the first day of the second Test here at Headingley was overshadowed by two controversial examples of disputed catches.
   Before lunch, South Africa third slip AB de Villiers claimed he’d caught Andrew Strauss on 23 but the England opener stood his ground and replays showed de Villiers had dropped the ball.
   Strauss was out soon afterwards, caught behind having added just four more runs, but that didn’t stop, according to Arthur, Vaughan from giving de Villiers a piece of his mind at lunchtime.
   Then late in the day, Vaughan - diving forward at mid-off - claimed a low catch off the bowling of the recalled Andrew Flintoff which would have seen the in-form Hashim Amla out for nine and reduced the Proteas to 76 for four.
   Amla, who scored a century in the drawn first Test at Lord’s, was two-thirds of the way back to the pavilion and about to step off the turf, which would have made changing the decision impossible, when 12th man Andre Nel and Arthur gestured to him to stay put.
   He did and, belatedly, third umpire Richard Kettleborough was called into play by on-field officials Billy Bowden and Daryl Harper.
   With the pictures unclear, Kettleborough had little option but to let Amla continue and at stumps the batsman was 18 not out.
   ‘It’s fair to say that AB took a lot of criticism at lunchtime from some of the England players - from Michael Vaughan himself,’ said Arthur.
   ‘It’s amazing there’s a lady up there called Mother Cricket, who doesn’t sleep - and it came back to haunt Michael Vaughan later in the day.
   Arthur explained: ‘I’ve always been a coach that has advocated technology. If the ball bounces it’s not out. I’m 100 per cent sure it bounced.
   ‘It is my business,’ he said of his move in telling Amla to stand his ground. ‘Hashim Amla is probably the most polite guy in the world, a very disciplined boy.
   ‘He wouldn’t have questioned anything that had happened out there. I felt I was well within my rights to tell one of our key batters, a guy in form, to stay on the ground so the correct decision was made.
   ‘I’d never say Vaughan was dishonest.’
   He added: ‘We had two separate incidents, AB thought it had gone from the one hand to the other hand. It clearly hadn’t. AB accepted his mistake and apologised straight away out in the middle to Andrew Strauss.’
   England coach Peter Moores said he had no complaints about Amla’s decision.
   ‘I’ve nothing against Amla, if your team have shouted at you to stay you’ve got to stay.
   ‘Vaughany caught it clean but when he was in the huddle there was big commotion because of what was on the big screen, it was Vaughany who said to the umpires ‘I think you should refer it’.
   Moores, who said Vaughan still felt his was a clean catch, said of the de Villiers’ incident: ‘De Villiers has got to decide if he knew (the ball was dropped). I thought it was a disappointing incident.’ This series should have been the trial Test campaign for a system, similar to one suggested by former England coach Duncan Fletcher and to one used in professional tennis, which would see the teams allowed to make three ‘challenges’ an innings to an umpiring decisions.
   However, this was vetoed by England with Moores explaining they wanted the umpires to remain in charge of the process.
   ‘We support referrals, we didn’t want players doing the referring.’

Sachin Tendulkar marked his return from injury with a well-made 69 but the rest of the Indian batsmen struggled in a three-day tour match against a Sri Lanka Board XI here on Saturday.
   In reply to the hosts’ first-innings score of 224, the visitors were 196-8 at stumps on the second day of their warm-up tie at the Nondescripts Cricket Club.
   Tendulkar, making a return to international cricket after more than three months, proved his match fitness with the 76-ball knock that included eight fours and a six.
   The star batsman is just 172 runs short of surpassing West Indies’ Brian Lara as the world’s highest Test run getter.
   Tendulkar added 62 runs for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik who looked all set for a Test recall after remaining unbeaten on a patient 58 that came off 105 balls.
   But other top-rated Test batsmen including Rahul Dravid (five) and Venkatsai Laxman (zero) flopped against the second-string attack of the hosts who had the Indians on the mat at 80-5 at one stage.
   Former captain Sourav Ganguly also failed to get any batting practice, making 14 before being caught by Mahela Udawatte off medium pacer Dammika Prasad who impressed with a haul of 3-30 off his eight overs.
   Fast bowler Dilhara Fernando finished with 2-27 while also effecting the run out of former India skipper Dravid to underline a spirited effort by the hosts.
   This is the only warm-up game between the sides ahead of the start of the three-Test series on July 23.
   India have not won a series in this island nation in 15 years.

Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar Saturday moved to dispel any suggestion he was running away from dope tests ahead of the Champions Trophy, saying he will be the first to give a sample.
   Pakistan will conduct dope tests on its 30-man preliminary Champions Trophy squad on Sunday to avoid any further embarrassment following paceman Mohammad Asif’s failed test in the Indian Premier League .
   Akhtar, who tested positive for nandrolone in October 2006, said he has no fears ahead of the September Trophy, scheduled to be held in Pakistan.
   ‘I will be the first to give dope test on Sunday because I have no fears and will also give fitness test once I gain rhythm,’ said Akhtar, who was banned for two years for the positive test.
   He and fellow paceman Asif tested positive in tests conducted internally by Pakistan Cricket Board . Asif was banned for one year but the bans were overturned on appeals.
   Akhtar and Asif cleared tests ahead of last year’s World Cup in the West Indies before they pulled out due to injuries.
   The 32-year-old Akhtar was named in Pakistan’s provisional squad earlier this month after Lahore High Court suspended a separate 18-month ban for ill-discipline.
   The PCB on Friday left out Akhtar from a 24-member training camp starting later this month on fitness grounds, saying the paceman has asked for time to gain full fitness.
   ‘We don’t know how much Akhtar is fit. We feared he might breakdown as it will be a strenuous training camp and that’s why we have dropped him from the training camp,’ PCB chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said.
   Akhtar admitted he will take two to three weeks to get full fitness. ‘I will train under Pakistan trainer Greg Dwyer and it will take me two to three weeks to get full fitness and get in full bowling rhythm, and after that I will give a fitness test.
   ‘I am keen to play the Champions Trophy so I am ready to do whatever is required to play for Pakistan,’ said Akhtar, who last played for Pakistan on the team’s tour of India in December last year.
   Pakistan feature in a proposed four-nation Twenty20 event in Canada to be held from August 14-17 before hosting New Zealand for a three-match one-day series in late August.
   Pakistan host the biennial Champions Trophy from September 11-28.

The Australian cricket community was caught by surprise on Saturday at Australia-raised paceman Darren Pattinson’s bolt from obscurity to the England Test team.
   The 29-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler was a surprise choice to replace his injured county colleague Ryan Sidebottom in the England side for the second Test against South Africa at Headingley on Friday.
   Although born in Grimsby, northern England, Pattinson grew up in Melbourne and his Australia-born younger brother, James, has represented the Australia Under-19 team.
   Cricket officials from his home state Victoria admitted surprise that Pattinson, who is contracted with Cricket Victoria, was not an Australian citizen and even eligible to play for England.
   ‘We didn’t realise he wasn’t an Australian citizen and didn’t have an Australian passport,’ Victorian general manager of cricket operations Shaun Graf said.
   ‘He actually only had a British passport and hence when he came home from playing overseas a couple of times he needed to get a visa which is a little bit strange.’
   Pattinson’s opportunity only evolved when Cricket Victoria received an offer to play with Nottinghamshire, Graf said.
   Former Australian swing bowler Damien Fleming said he was shocked when he heard that Pattinson, a roof-tiler by trade, was making his debut for England two seasons after playing his first match for Victoria.
   ‘It’s unbelievable. I don’t reckon he’ll be doing any roof-tiling for a while,’ Fleming told The Age newspaper.
   ‘He’s got good attributes. He’s a pretty strong fellow, he’s nice and tall, and he gets really good bounce.
   ‘He has a pretty uncomplicated action, so not much can go wrong, and he’s a ripping bloke, so I don’t think temperament would be an issue either.’
   Former Victorian all-rounder Brendan McArdle, who helped set Pattinson up initially with clubs in Yorkshire, was another surprised by his sudden elevation.‘It was in his mind to play county cricket, but we never thought England,’ McArdle said.
   ‘He’s so Australian in his ways you would never believe it. He’s a competitive bugger.’
   If Pattinson kept his English origins quiet while he was playing in Australia, it wasn’t for fear of being sledged.
   ‘People wouldn’t have a go at Darren,’ his former Dandenong club coach Warren Ayres said. ‘He’s pretty big and pretty wild.’

Reigning world all-around gymnastics champion Shawn Johnson, a tiny 16-year-old bundle of high-bouncing energy, will lead a world champion American squad seeking gold at the Beijing Olympics.
   Johnson’s coaches, former top Chinese gymnasts Liang Chow and Liwen Zhuang, may have developed the superstar that breaks the hearts of a new Chinese generation of formidable gymnasts.
   ‘We’re all going to be competing at the highest levels. I don’t think anybody is going to beat us,’ Johnson said.
   ‘China is going to be our biggest competition. Knowing they will be in front of their home fans gives us more pressure but we will be motivated to work extra hard to beat them.’
   Johnson’s home gymnasium in Iowa was flooded in June, forcing her to shift her daily workouts of four to six hours to a neabrby college.
   But Johnson shrugged off the distraction to win last month’s Olympic Trials and ensure herself a place in Beijing.
   ‘It’s hard to control the distractions but it comes with the sport,’ Johnson said.
   ‘It feels amazing to finally have a dream be a reality. It’s what I’ve been hoping for like forever.’
   It has been a long journey to Beijing for a girl who did not even have the Olympic dream when she first began taking gymnastics classes.
   ‘I never started gymnastics thinking I wanted to be an Olympian,’ Johnson said. ‘I don’t think anyone knows what they are getting into. For me, it was the thrill of the ride.’
   Johnson credits Zhaung and Chow with bringing out the best in her skills, pushing her until her program features some of the moves with the greatest degree of difficulty in the sport.
   ‘They are the main reason I’ve gotten here. They’re the most amazing coaches. I have learned so much from them,’ Johnson said. ‘Our goal is just to work to be the best, show the world what I can do and defend my title.’
   Johnson’s power and the height on her moves give her an edge on rivals if she can complete clean routines based upon the difficulty of her moves, notably a Yurchenko vault with 2 ½ twists that only a handful of girls have mastered.
   ‘It has to do with my coaches and the hard work I’ve put in. I worked hard to get a little higher and a little harder every time. I was always just trying to get myself to set the bar a little higher,’ Johnson said.
   Outside of the gym, Johnson tries to have a normal life with her focus on her pet cats and a dog.
   ‘I try to work in time for normal teenage stuff. I don’t let this completely consume me, take me away from being who I am,’ Johnson said.
   ‘My coach has been understanding that I need a normal life. He’s never asked for anything different.’
   One of Johnson’s top rivals for gold could be US teammate Nastia Liukin, the 18-year-old Russian-born daughter of 1988 Olympic champion Valeri Liukin—who coaches Nastia—and 1987 world rhythmic gymnastics champion Anna Kotchneva.
   Liukin is confident the US women can control their own medal fate with solid performances at the Olympics.
   ‘We are the team to beat. We earned that winning the worlds in 2007,’ Liukin said. ‘It adds a little more pressure but we’re working five times harder to win the gold medal at Beijing.
   ‘If we hit our routines the way we can, we know we will come out on top.’

New Zealand cricket team will arrive in Dhaka on October 4 to play two Tests and three one-day international matches during their 25-day tour of Bangladesh. The team will depart on October 29.
   The visitors will open their tour with a one-day practice match on October 7.
   The first two ODIs will take place at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on October 9 and October 11. The Kiwi side will then fly to the port city of Chittagong to play the third and last one-dayer at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium on October 14.
   The first Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand will start on October 17 at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium and the second Test will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from October 25-29.
   This series, however, is out of the ICC’s FTP as the Cricket New Zealand fulfils its commitment of a return series when Bangladesh approached them during their tour of New Zealand in January last.

Two best referees of this year’s B league will each receive Tk 25,000 and the award will be called ‘Monowar Hossian Nannu Award’. The award will be given every year.
   Sonali Otit, the organisation of former footballers, and the family of Nannu, the former national footballer who expired last year, jointly declared the award at a press conference at the Sonali Otit Club at Motijheel on Saturday.
   Mossabir Hossain, the general secretary of Sonali Otit, Sanwar Hossain, the son of late Nannu, and a number of former footballers were present on the occasion.

Aiming to discover the future stars the Keya Cosmetics 24th National Age Group Swimming Championships starts today at the Mirpur National Swimming Complex under the aegis of the Bangladesh Swimming Federation.
   A total 517 promising swimmers, including 132 girls, are expected to compete in the meet in five age groups – 8-10 years, 11-12 years, 13-14 years, 15-16 years and 17-18 years.
   The budget of the meet is Tk 8 lakh and Keya Cosmetics has provided a purse of Tk 5 lakh as the title sponsor.
   Defence secretary M Kamrul Islam will inaugurate the three-day meet in the morning. Abdul Khaleque Pathan, the managing director of Keya Cosmetics Ltd, will remain present as special guest.
   President of Bangladesh Swimming Federation and Navy chief Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam will be the chief guest at the closing function on Tuesday.

The GP-BCB National Cricket Academy will start a 10-day training camp in Bogra today to make preparation for their tour to South Africa.
   The Academy team is scheduled to leave for South Africa on August 4 for a three-week tour to play two four-day and three one-day matches.
   The GP-BCB team will return to Dhaka from Bogra on July 29.

Shafiqul Islam Manik is likely to be appointed as the interim coach of the Bangladesh football team as he remains as the lone contender for the post. His appointment could be finalised at the next executive committee meeting of the BFF.
   The president of Bangladesh Football Federation, Kazi Salahuddin, has started searching for an overseas coach and it will take some a time before he finds one. He has hinted that he might not be able to bring in a foreign overseas coach before October. But Bangladesh has the Merdeka Cup assignment in Malaysia. The tournament is scheduled to kick off on October 15 and end on October 25. So the BFF has no choice other than appointing Manik as the national coach for the time being.
   While commenting on the probe report on the SAFF football debacle the BFF president took the safest way. ‘I want to place the report before to the executive committee and take necessary steps after a thorough discussion with the federation members,’ said the BFF supremo.

A meeting of the Bangladesh Olympic Association executive committee will be held at the Kurmitola Golf Club today.
   BOA president and Army chief General Moeen U Ahmed will preside over the meeting where a decision is likely to be made on the inclusion of two more disciplines in the upcoming South Asian Games, to be held in Bangladesh in December.
   The resignation of BOA deputy secretary-general Kazi Mohiuddin Bulbul will also be discussed at the meeting.

Pakistan cricket authorities Saturday hoped for a positive decision on their hosting of the Champions Trophy in September amidst security concerns in the country.
   The International Cricket Council is to conduct a security briefing at headquarters in Dubai Sunday with representatives from all eight participating teams in attendance—a meeting which could lead to a final decision.
   Pakistan’s representative, Shafqat Naghmi, is hoping for a positive outcome.
   ‘We have assured fool-proof security measures for the Trophy and there is no reason for us to believe that the tournament will be relocated from Pakistan,’ Naghmi, chief operating officer of Pakistan Cricket Board , said.
   The meeting comes amid renewed fears about security in Pakistan following a suicide blast in the capital Islamabad earlier this month that killed 19 people and a series of small bombings in the port city of Karachi a day later. Players from Australia, New Zealand and England have expressed concerns over playing in Pakistan. India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and the hosts are the other teams competing.
   The tournament is due to be held in Karachi, Rawalpindi—which adjoins Islamabad—and Lahore from September 11-28.
   Naghmi said the ICC has been positive on the prospect of hosting the Trophy in Pakistan.
   ‘The ICC has so far said nothing to suggest that the tournament will not be held here, so we are pretty confident,’ said Naghmi. Sri Lanka, the designated alternative venue for the tournament, is also facing renewed violence between Tamil Tiger rebels and government troops.

Beijing opened three new rail lines on Saturday in a bid to reduce traffic gridlock on the city’s streets and improve air quality ahead of next month’s Olympic Games.
   The new lines include a link to the main Olympic Stadium and a high-speed line to Beijing’s new airport terminal, adding an extra 58 kilometres (36 miles) to the over-stretched subway system at a cost of 22.3 billion yuan (3.2 billion dollars).
   Liu Qi, the head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee and secretary of the Beijing Communist Party, attended the Saturday morning ceremony for all three lines that went into service for the general public from 2:00pm (0600 GMT).
   ‘These lines are great,’ said Dieter Michell-Auli, head of mass transit operations for German firm Siemens, which supplied signalling and automation systems.
   ‘The Chinese really went for the latest technology and the new lines are more advanced than more than 90 per cent of the systems in Europe. Most places in the world are nowhere near this standard.’
   The opening comes a day ahead of the implementation of a broad traffic ban that will keep more than one million cars off Beijing’s streets during the August 8-24 Olympics and will add significantly to the burden on the city’s public transport system.
   Commuters normally make 16 million trips a day by public transport but that will rise to more than 20 million as a result of the car ban, said Zhou Zhengyu, the deputy head of Beijing’s transport committee.
   He said subway passengers will increase from the current 3.3 million a day to more than four million and the length of track from 142 to 200 kilometres.
   ‘We are confident that with these new subway lines we can help cope with the extra burden of commuters,’ he said.
   Beijing now has eight subway lines following last year’s opening of line five, part of a massive scheme to upgrade the system that will see an additional seven lines constructed by 2015.
   The immediate focus, however, is on the Olympics and the city’s poor air quality. Beijing’s 3.3 million vehicles—increasing by more than 1,000 a day—have been identified as the chief sources of the city’s pollution problem.
   Beijing ordered the ban on cars in an effort to tackle the problem with less than three weeks before the Games open.
   Cars with odd- and even-numbered licence plates will be ruled off the roads on alternate days for two months starting July 20.
   Last year Chinese authorities conducted a similar scheme for three days and said that air pollution levels fell significantly as a result while traffic congestion was also curbed.
   The new subway lines boast state of the art stations with video screens, access for disabled people and air-conditioned cars.
   The airport line links the downtown areas with Terminal Three, Beijing’s new airport hub, with high-speed trains running every 15 minutes along the 27-kilometre route that will take around 20 minutes.
   The 4.5-kilometre Olympic Branch Line is open only to Olympic ticket holders and accredited personnel such as athletes, officials and journalists during the Games and is geared to carry 220,000 passengers a day while the airport line is expected to carry a maximum of 50,000. Line 10, which runs on a 25 kilometre right angle west to east and then north to south is expected to handle up to 850,000 a day.

Yuvraj Singh may not be in India’s Test scheme of things right now but the swashbuckling left-hander harbours the dream of taking over as the captain of the side at some point in his career.
   Stressing that his biggest love remains cricket and his ultimate dream is to take over the captain’s reins, Yuvraj said, ‘I would love to captain India one day.’
   Yuvraj has been the vice captain of the ODI side but lost out on captaining the ODI team, something he attributes to ‘various other reasons’ and not to his party animal image.
   ‘I was performing well at the time when (Rahul) Dravid stepped down. My critics couldn’t say I was not performing,’ he said.
   The dashing Punjab player has problems with people judging him on what he does off the field and said, ‘I love to party and I have no problems in saying this...as long as it doesn’t affect my cricket.
   ‘I am going to keep doing what I am doing. I have been playing international cricket for eight years now and that’s not a joke.’
   Referring to his brief romance with model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone, Yuvraj said, ‘If some one wants to move out of a relationship, there isn’t much that the other person can do. She was with me and now she has moved on with another person. I guess it was her personal choice.
   ‘I don’t fool around. Before Deepika, I was seeing Kim Sharma for four years and it was a serious and committed relationship,’ he said.
   The right woman should not only understand how important his public image was but also push him towards the best that he can be in cricket, Yuvraj said.
   The Punjab cricketer, however, said he was now looking for a stable relationship in his life.
   On his four-year relationship with Kim, the dashing cricketer said he learnt a lot from the Bollywood actress.
   ‘She polished up my sense of dressing. She taught me that going out and meeting different people always helps... she also told me not to get affected with what people say,’ he added.

Matthew Hoggard fears he may have played his last Test for England after former roof-tiler Darren Pattinson was dramatically plucked out of county cricket obscurity for a shock international debut at the Yorkshireman’s Headingley home ground here Friday.
   With Ryan Sidebottom out with a back strain, England’s selectors ignored the claims of Hoggard and fellow 2005
   Ashes-winning quicks Stephen Harmison and Simon Jones as they chose their side for the second Test against South Africa.
   They even ignored first reserve Chris Tremlett to opt for the in-form Pattinson, born in Grimsby, northern England but brought up in Australia, who, at the age of 29, was appearing in just his 12th first-class match.
   Hoggard, dropped along with Harmison after England’s first Test defeat away to New Zealand in March, was not optimistic about his chances of an international recall.
   ‘I am not holding my breath,’ the 31-year-old told the BBC.
   ‘It would have been lovely to have played a home Test match in front of my home crowd.
   ‘I have been getting better and better this season, I am not bowling like a bag of spanners.’
   But asked if he felt his England career was at an end, Hoggard said: ‘At the moment I am looking at it as though it is. I have been through all the emotions and more since the end of the New Zealand series.
   ‘When I was overlooked for the first Test (at home to New Zealand) I thought the writing was on the wall.’
   Hoggard, who made his debut eight years ago, has taken 248 wickets at just over 30 apiece in his 67 Tests.
   Reflecting on his time as an international player, he said: ‘Most of my career has been a highlight.
   ‘Even the low points you look back at now and think that was me in an England shirt.
   ‘I’m so proud of the career I have had. I hope it’s not over - fingers crossed I get another chance.’

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one hears, has enrolled towards a degree in commerce. If this is not just an endorsement for promoting education in Jharkhand (though this is laudable too), it adds another fascinating dimension to this cricketer.
   It is not that educated young men are new to cricket. In fact, one of the game’s immortals and earliest icons was WG Grace, who was a qualified doctor, and there have been several in his wake who have distinguished themselves
   academically. In India, particularly, the tradition of ‘educated’ cricketers had been strong: for reasons on how the game had been structured by the Board, as well as socio-economic factors.
   While cricket prospered and proliferated in India because of the benediction of ‘royals’ in the distant past, the vast majority of players were from the middle class where education was assigned much greater value than sport.
   Job security ran concurrently with playing sport, so most kids had to ensure that they worked towards a reasonable academic qualification, just in case. A brief list of players with post-graduate qualifications given below would help understand this:
   Jahangir Khan, PhD (Cambridge); Dilawar Hussain, PhD, LLB, MA; C Ramaswami, MA (Cambridge); IAK Pataudi (Sr), MA (Oxford); MK Mantri, MA; CT Sarwate, BA, LLB (finger-print expert); RV Divecha, MA (Oxford); CT Patankar, MSc; AK Sen Gupta, MA; AA Baig, MA (Oxford); MAK Pataudi (Jr), MA (Oxford); S Venkataraghvan, B Engg; A Gandotra, MA (Eco); Parthasarathy Sharma, MA; SS Naik, MSc; AD Gaekwad, M Com; K Srikkanth, B Engg; Arun Lal, MA; Anil Kumble, B Engg; Javagal Srinath, B Engg; SS Karim, MBA
   Till it was sadly scrapped, the Vizzy Trophy which showcased talent from the universities, was the lifeline for domestic (and hence) international cricket in India almost till the 80s.
   But the bigger impact was made by economic liberalisation that came in the 90s, following which the rewards for exceptional talent became so high as to make academic qualifications superfluous.
   Sachin Tendulkar became the strongest metaphor of this change, and the lack of formal education today is no longer considered a drawback, either in peer groups or for wider social recognition. Indeed, Tendulkar is the cricket world’s most illustrious and admired figure and a role icon across continents even amongst those who know very little about the game.
   Of course, formal education and ‘big’ degrees are of no great help in playing any sport. Given below are some of the all-time cricketing greats, none of whom could boast of any MAs and LLBs, and this list
   tells a wonderful story of how native intelligence, passion and commitment can combine with talent to produce a world beater.
   Don Bradman, at 12, attended Bowral Public School. At 14, left school in 1922 and went to work for a local real estate agent Viv Richards attended secondary school (St John’s Boys School and Antigua Grammar School) Gary Sobers attended secondary school (Bay Street Boys’ School in Barbados). At 14, left school to join a furniture making shop Sachin Tendulkar, SSC (Shardasharam High School). Attended few months of junior college (Khalsa College) in Mumbai, while he was still a Test cricketer Denis Lillee attended Belmay Primary School, at Belmont in Perth. Left school at 15, went to work in a clothing warehouse
   Brian Lara, at 14, attended Fatima College, which is a government-assisted, selective Roman Catholic boys’ secondary school in Port of Spain. Later on, he also received an honourary doctorate from the University of Sheffield, in January 2007.
   Yet, what impresses me about Dhoni is both his sense of humility and ambition outside the cricketing arena. At 27, he is not exactly a ‘fresher’, but what is interesting is that he should see formal education as necessary to add to his life’s repertoire.
   And what is admirable is that he should consider this important in spite of having achieved enough fame and money to last several lifetimes already.

Burqa clad women are giving jitters to the Pakistani security experts monitoring preparations for the Champions Trophy as it is feared that terrorists might use the veil to carry out attacks during the eight-nation tourney.
   A security expert associated with the plan for the tournament has confirmed that the International Cricket Council consultants want a more comprehensive security sweep of women clad in Burqas coming for the matches. The all-enveloping burqa outfits are worn by many women in Pakistan for religious and cultural reasons. The expert said the security consultants of the ICC feel there was no proper security check for burqa clad women in and around the stadium.
   ‘The ICC security consultants want the Pakistan board to have an increased workforce of policewomen at the stadiums to check burqa clad women when they come for the matches,’ he said.
   He said the ICC experts have raised some objections over the security arrangements that have been made for the recent Asia Cup in Lahore and Karachi.
   And inadequate arrangements to check women wearing Burqas at the entrance of the stadiums and enclosures was one of them.
   Western security officials remain wary of the burqa as in the recent past militants have disguised themselves in it to carry out suicide bomb attacks and also smuggle explosives and arms in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
   In a highly reported incident, the radical cleric of the Lal Masjid complex was arrested by security forces while he was trying to flee clad in the burqa after security forces stormed the complex in July.
   The ICC is holding a meeting of all stakeholders of the Champions Trophy on Sunday in which the security plan for the event would be discussed threadbare and the consultants would brief all the participants about their monitoring of the security cover in the Asia Cup held in Karachi and Lahore.
   The PCB will also give a briefing to the member countries and international players association and television companies about security arrangements.
   The experts have, meanwhile, asked the PCB to install more scanners at the entrances of the stadium and enclosures for security sweeps of the general public as they believe a increased workforce is required for the Champions Trophy.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria on Friday pledged his international future to Pakistan after it was reported he was considering playing for the English national side.
   ‘I didn’t say that I wanted to stay over here and qualify to play for England. I still want to play for Pakistan,’ Kaneria told the official website of Essex, his English county side. ‘If Pakistan didn’t select me for three or four years in a row, only then would I consider coming here permanently.’
   The 27-year-old spinner has taken 220 wickets in 51 Test matches. ‘My priority is with Pakistan for as long as they need me in Test cricket. In fact, I am always there for them in any form of the game - Pakistan has given me the name to be playing cricket in England.’

The Comilla District Football Association is likely to kick off the Comilla Premier Football League from September.
   The DFA has reached an understanding with an organiser who has agreed to sponsor the league.
   Twelve teams will play in the league and the DFA president Tapash Baul has worked hard to organise the league and has sought support from the BFF.

Eric Cantona has set his sights on becoming the greatest manager in the world.
   The former Manchester United forward is currently the coach of France’s beach soccer team but has plans to return to the conventional form of the game in future.
   He revealed last month that he would only consider two jobs in management - with Manchester United or the England national side. Cantona still has ambitions in football and he does not believe there is any point in settling for second best.
   ‘I am very passionate about beach soccer, and my acting career,’ the Frenchman told L’Equipe.
   ‘But when I have done everything in those two passions, my next goal will be to become the greatest coach in the world.
   ‘When you do something, it is to become the best, isn’t it?’
   Cantona says Sir Alex Ferguson and Johan Cruyff have been the two most influential figures in his career. ‘Are Manchester United and Alex Ferguson my key references? Yes, and Cruyff. He was a great player and a great coach, with a game perfectly set.’
   Cantona added that he was disappointed with France at Euro 2008 after Raymond Domenech’s side bowed out in the group stages.
   ‘Nowadays and for 15 years, French Football is playing unnaturally,’ he said.
   ‘We are a creators’ country, but we are not anymore. To me, French Football is 1984-1986 generation, the European Brazilians, not what I have seen during recent years.’

Saturday threatened to be one of the most difficult days in the up-and-down career of Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroon hitman’s holidays are over and he was due to return to Barcelona’s Camp Nou – to be officially told that he is not wanted.
   Despite being Barca’s top-scorer in the past four seasons – banging in 107 goals since joining from Mallorca in 2004 – and despite having led the Catalans to two Spanish league and one Champions League title, Eto’o will be told to pack his bags.
   Barca have a history of sending their megastars packing after a few seasons. On Tuesday, it was the turn of Ronaldinho, sold off cheaply to AC Milan.
   Three weeks ago Deco was unceremoniously packed off to Chelsea. Now comes the turn of Eto’o. New coach Josep Guardiola has made it clear that the ‘Lion of Cameroon’ is another player he wants to see the back off.
   Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto’o are being held to blame – and not just by Guardiola – for Barca’s last two lethargic, chaotic and trophy- less seasons.
   In particular, Deco and Eto’o have become unpopular with the ‘cule’ fans for having allegedly picked up deliberate yellow cards in order to miss a 4-1 humiliation away to champions Real Madrid in May.
   Ronaldinho, for his part, missed the misery in Madrid due to an injury that several directors believe to have been invented.
   On Saturday Eto’o, 27, was to be told by Guardiola that he was not wanted. Then technical secretary Txiki Begiristain was to ask him what offers he has received from other clubs.
   The answer, somewhat surprisingly, is: very few.
   None of Europe’s major clubs seem particularly interested in the explosive striker, partly because of the hard-to-handle reputation that he has picked up.
   He was at daggers drawn with Ronaldinho in the past two seasons, infamously called former coach Frank Rijkaard ‘a very bad person’ – and several times has threatened to walk off the field after allegedly receiving racist abuse at away games. Bizarrely, Eto’o spent most of last week in Tashkent, talking about ‘an excellent offer’ he had received from Uzbek champions PFC Kuruvchi.
   The prospect of Eto’o moving from La Liga to Uzbekistan has been greeted with astonishment and ridicule in the Spanish media. His agent, Jose Maria Mesalles, is working hard to explore more realistic possibilities.
   Manchester City, who missed out on Ronaldinho, might be interested in Eto’o. The Catalan media on Saturday was suggesting a swap for Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov.
   A similar swap for Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor seems to have died, the same as the possibility of trading Eto’o for Chelsea’s Florent Malouda or Didier Drogba. Two years ago – after scoring for Barca in their Champions League final triumph against Arsenal – Eto’o was one of Planet Football’s most coveted strikers.
   Now few major clubs seem prepared to splash out for the little tinderbox.
   What a difference two years can make in modern football.

While the quality of play in Major League Soccer is better than people think, David Beckham believes it will take time to catch up to some of the world’s better leagues. Beckham said on Friday he was enjoying his first full season with the Los Angeles Galaxy, noting that he had a tough time adjusting last year after arriving in the middle of the season and having to battle an assortment of injuries.
   The 33-year-old has been healthy this season, and scored five goals.
   ‘I have enjoyed it,’ Beckham said at a news conference to promote Saturday’s game at Giants Stadium against the New York Red Bulls.
   ‘Football is definitely changing in this country, and it is getting bigger and growing,’ Beckham said. ‘But it is going to take time, and I said that at the start. It’s not just going to happen in a year or two. It’s a long-term plan to raise the profile for this game in this country. I think it has gone well so far.’
   Beckham has done his job attracting fans. The Galaxy have averaged about 26,000 for home games at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Centre. They are doing even better on the road, averaging more than 27,000.
   The advance sale for Beckham’s second game in the New York metropolitan area was 45,000 on Thursday, which would be the largest single-game crowd for a MLS game this season. His appearance here last year drew about 67,000.
   ‘It’s one of the reasons I moved here, to be a part of growing the game,’ said Beckham, who signed with the Galaxy in January 2007 after a standout career with Manchester United and Real Madrid. ‘Hopefully, people are seeing the changes which we are putting in. The attendance is up 20 per cent and shirt sales up 780 per cent. So it is going well. That’s what we need in this country.’
   Beckham laughed when asked whether fans were coming to see him because of his ability as a football player or his celebrity status.
   ‘I don’t really care as long as they are here and watching the game,’ the midfielder said.
   As somewhat of the game’s ambassador for the MLS, Beckham doesn’t mind being in the spotlight and having demands on his time.
   ‘The safest place and the best place I feel is when I am on the field,’ he added.
   The Galaxy are tied for second place in the Western Conference with a 6-4-6 mark. Beckham said the team has played well at times.
   ‘Being here a year now, you see some of the talented players in the league and some of the talented teams,’ he said. ‘Every game is a tough game. Of course, we do want to get it to the level of other leagues in the world, but it will take time. But it’s not that far away. There is a lot of talent in this league.’
   Beckham noted that Villarreal recently paid a $10 million transfer to acquire the rights to Red Bulls teenage striker Jozy Altidore. He also believes that MLS teams will attract more players from Europe soon.
   Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said that MLS will continue to advance as long as clubs build new stadiums and change rules to allow teams to pay more for quality players.
   ‘If the teams are allowed to spend a little more money, the markets that we can look for players will be different markets,’ Osorio said. ‘At the moment, we have to accept that we can’t look at the European markets, and if we do, we can only look at players who are over 31 and 32 years old. That limits the players we can target and concentrate on.’

Raul, Fabio Cannavaro, Ruud van Nistelrooy and fellow Galacticos descending here to weave magic on carpet does not sound daydreaming anymore with Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon Ramos writing to Sports Minister MS Gill, seeking a passage to India.
   Happy to see what started as a casual discussion between two tennis fans on the sidelines of the Wimbledon final taking a more concrete shape, Gill has reacted by promptly writing to his cabinet colleague and All India Football Federation President Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, seeking to discuss the next course of action.
   It all started during the Wimbledon when eventual winner Rafael Nadal was waging a battle against the man he would topple, Roger Federer, in that epic final. Gill had gone to watch the match and there he came across the Real Madrid President and told him how more than a lakh people turned out in Kolkata in May when Bayern Munich came to play what was star goalkeeper Oliver Kahn’s farewell match.
   Ramos warmed up to the idea of an India tour by ‘Los Blancos’ and on July 8, the Real Madrid chief sent a letter to Gill reminding him of the discussion they had in London and requesting him to take the whole thing forward.
   ‘Further to our conversation, we would be delighted that we could establish any kind of relationship between Real Madrid and India, through its Government, and in particular, through the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,’ Ramos wrote in his letter.
   ‘I am at your disposal to discuss any proposal you might wish to make,’ Ramos added.
   ‘As you can imagine, our club must plan all their activities with time enough, therefore I would be grateful that any suggestion you may have, can be made in advance in order to be responded properly. I look forward to hearing from you soon,’ Ramos concluded.

The Iranian Football Federation on Friday said that it will complain to football world governing body FIFA over Egypt’s decision to cancel a friendly match because of a controversial film.
   ‘If the game gets cancelled then we will lodge a complaint to FIFA,’ the head of Iran’s Football Federation, Ali Kafashian was quoted as saying by the state run television news website.
   ‘This is a political issue and we will mention to FIFA that the Egyptians are mixing political issues with sports.’
   Iranian coach Ali Daei told the ISNA news agency: ‘Whether we like it or not sport has become intertwined with politics and sport is being used as an instrument in the hands of politicians.’
   The Egyptian Football Association said on Friday that the match, scheduled for August 20 in the United Arab Emirates, had been cancelled due to tensions over an Iranian film on the assassination of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
   The film, entitled ‘Assassination of a Pharaoh’, says Sadat was killed for signing the 1978 Camp David Accords that led to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, the first by an Arab country.
   ‘We have decided to cancel the match because of tensions in relations’ between Cairo and Tehran following the airing of the documentary on the 1981 assassination, federation president Samir Zaher said.
   ‘We have been in contact with the (Egyptian) foreign ministry during the last 10 days regarding the situation and we finally decided to cancel the match so it did not provoke in one way or another, further tensions,’ he said.
   Diplomatic ties between Egypt and Iran were severed in 1980, a year after the Islamic revolution, in protest at Egypt’s recognition of Israel, its hosting of the deposed shah and its support for Iraq during its 1980-1988 war with Iran.
   Relations have recently warmed, with both countries signalling a willingness to restore ties. This is the second blow to Iran’s national squad after English outfit Charlton Athletic also cancelled a planned match against them in Spain.

Francesco Totti is not ruling out a return to the Italian national team, the AS Roma captain said. The 31-year-old, who picked up a World Cup winners’ medal in 2006, retired from international soccer last year saying his body was no longer up to playing for both club and county.
   However, the return to the Azzurri dugout of Marcello Lippi, with whom Totti said he had a ‘great relationship’, raised hopes the player may return.
   ‘If I’m well and I don’t have problems, it will be possible to address this issue in six months or a year,’ Totti, who missed the end of last season with a knee injury, told Saturday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.
   On the domestic front, Totti said Roma, runners-up in Serie A last season, need to make two major signings in the close season if they are to compete with Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus for the title. He still seems to bear a grudge against Christian Poulsen, Juve’s latest signing, after being banned for three matches for spitting at the Denmark midfielder during a Euro 2004 group game.
   Totti said he had been provoked and he was not impressed by Poulsen’s recent offer to shake his hand.
   ‘It’s easy to talk now,’ he said.
   ‘He could have come and told the truth at the hearing the day after. I don’t think he adds anything (to Juve) at the technical level.’

Cologne general manager Michael Meier insists the club’s dream of bringing in Lukas Podolski ‘lives on’.
   The Bayern Munich striker has been strongly linked with a return to his former club this summer after becoming unhappy at his lack of first-team opportunities with the German champions.
   But Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, general manager Uli Hoeness and coach Jurgen Klinsmann have repeatedly stressed he will not be sold.
   Meier admitted a move for Podolski was not imminent, but claimed the Bundesliga new boys still harbour hopes of bringing him back to the club where he made his name.
   ‘As it stands at the moment Podolski is not coming,’ he told the Bild newspaper. ‘The statements from Rummenigge and Hoeness are clear and we respect them.
   ‘Klinsmann also wants to keep hold of him. I can understand Bayern. They have (Luca) Toni and (Miroslav) Klose, whose places are assured. Add to that Podolski, but no more alternatives in attack.
   ‘Yet our dream of Poldi lives on.
   ‘When a player like Podolski is unhappy, that has an impact on his performances. The fact is: Lukas and his family do not feel at home in Munich. I am talking about the town, not the club.
   ‘If he also still plays only rarely, there is a high potential for frustration.’
   Hoeness also confirmed there is a clause in Podolski’s contract, which runs to 2010, which gives Cologne first refusal on the player.
   He told Munich-based newspaper tz: ‘Let’s say Manchester United offer 20 million for Lukas and we want to let him go.
   ‘Then we also have to offer him to Cologne for 20 million. And they can then say: ‘Good, we’ll take him for 20 million’.’
   Hoeness insisted though the clause could in no way force Bayern into a sale they did not want. ‘Cologne have to offer the same price, which we will get from somewhere else,’ he added.
   ‘If the player then says that he prefers to go to Cologne, then the clause takes effect.
   ‘But it is not a disadvantage for us. The clause is worth nothing at all. If Cologne could fall back on the player any time, it would be dangerous. But here it is only the case if we let the player go.’

While Massimo Moratti calls for ‘patience’ to sign Frank Lampard, Jose Mourinho admits Inter without success would be ‘a disaster.’
   The new Coach made the comments during Friday’s presentation of the kit for the 2008-09 campaign. ‘They are wonderful shirts, but in order to be beautiful they have to be victorious,’ smiled Mourinho.
   ‘Without success, the shirts are always remembered as disasters. Nike have done a great job with the design, now it’s up to me and the lads.’
   This is the former Chelsea and Porto tactician’s first foray into Serie A and he has already noticed the difference.
   ‘In England football is lived for 90 minutes a week. Here you experience it every single day. This represents even more motivation for us.
   ‘Now we will have a few friendly games, although I personally dislike that word. A match is a match and Inter must play to win at all times.’
   Mourinho has reiterated on several occasions that he would love to have Lampard in the team for this season, but Chelsea are determined to cling to the midfielder, even if it means losing him on a free transfer next summer.
   ‘The player wants to join us, but we must also respect Chelsea’s rights,’ President Moratti told journalists.
   ‘His club has every right to hold on to him. Basically, in order to sign Lampard we will need patience.’

Former Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is convinced new coach Jurgen Klinsmann can help the club make a ‘big impression’ on next season’s Champions League.
   With Klinsmann at the helm, the recently-retired custodian believes the Bavarian giants can make a real impact in Europe and overcome the disappointment of losing to Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup semi-finals last season.
   ‘I trust Jurgen not only with the two title defences of the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal but also to a make a big impression in the Champions League,’ Kahn told Munich-based newspaper Tz.
   ‘I still know him from the year we had together at Bayern in 1995/96. He is very bright and will prepare Bayern very well.
   ‘Certainly Klinsmann will be under pressure at Bayern, but that always exists there. It is only about titles, titles, titles.
   ‘I think it is good that with Klinsmann there is someone with new ideas and other methods.’

Manchester United defender Patrice Evra and Chelsea groundsman Sam Bethell have been charged with improper conduct following a post-match brawl at Stamford Bridge last season.
   Evra briefly traded blows with Bethell following Chelsea’s 2-1 win over United on April 26 when members of the London club’s groundstaff demanded that several United players, including the French defender, stop their warm-down on the pitch.
   The United players refused to leave and an angry row broke out between the stars and Chelsea stewards and groundstaff.
   Now Evra will have to answer the FA charge, while Bethell has also been charged with using abusive language aggravated by reference to nationality/race.
   The FA, who took witness statements during their investigation, could hit Evra with a range of punishments including a fine or ban.
   No date for the hearing has been set and with both clubs on pre-season trips, it may be a while before it is arranged.
   ‘The charges are the result of a thorough investigation conducted by the FA over the last three months,’ an FA statement read.
   ‘In bringing the charges, the FA used video evidence, CCTV footage and various witness statements from individuals present.’
   United defender Rio Ferdinand has been reminded of his responsibilities to the game following a separate incident, also after the Chelsea match, when he accidentally kicked a female steward in frustration while walking down the players’ tunnel at Stamford Bridge.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s knee injury will not prevent him from starting the season as normal, assure Inter’s medical staff.
   Newspaper speculation emerged over the state of his left knee tendon after the Swede walked off just 20 minutes into his first training session.
   He had considered surgery for the recurring injury that has been troubling him for months, but decided to postpone so he could play in Euro 2008.
   ‘Ibra will be ready for the start of the season,’ said chief medic Franco Combi in Saturday’s Press conference. ‘Obviously it would have been better had be not played in the European Championship, but the Swedish medical staff were very careful.
   ‘We resumed the rehabilitation programme and at this moment we are not even considering the possibility of surgery.
   ‘Besides, even if he did go under the knife, it would be to clean up the area. That would keep him out of action for at most three weeks and not the many months that were rumoured in the media.’

Real Madrid will continue to try to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United, Spanish media reported Saturday one day after United coach Sir Alex Ferguson said the Portuguese winger was staying put.
   ‘I can say he’ll be a Manchester United player next season. That’s our stance. He won’t be sold,’ Ferguson told a news conference in South Africa Friday where the English side is on a pre-season tour.
   The statement made the front pages of Spanish sports dailies AS and Marca which both remained sceptical and indicated that the transfer saga was not yet over.
   Ferguson will hold talks again with Ronaldo at the end of July and at that point the 23-year-old player will re-state his desire to quit Manchester, where he is under contract until 2012, to join the Spanish champions, Marca said.
   Ronaldo’s transfer has entered its ‘final stages’ and it could take place at the beginning of August even if it is complicated, added the newspaper which has insisted the player is joining Real over the past few months.
   Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon meanwhile is convinced that Ferguson’s statements are a ‘manoeuvre’ intended to make Ronaldo’s price rise, daily newspaper El Mundo reported.
   Real is reportedly willing to pay 85 million euros (118 million US dollars) to sign Ronaldo, the English Premiership’s top scorer last season, and has already secured a 70-million-euro bank loan to carry out the operation.
   Ronaldo, who has persistently spoken of how it would be a ‘dream’ for him to play for Real, scored an impressive 42 goals last term as United won both the Premier League and Champions League.
   He has infuriated United by continuing to express a desire to quit the European champions for Real Madrid since the end of last season.
   Former England manager Terry Venables meanwhile accused the player of being ‘selfish’ with his attempt to break his contract with Old Trafford.
   ‘Ronaldo has four years left on a highly lucrative deal that he was overjoyed to sign 15 months ago,’ he wrote in his weekly column in British daily The Sun.
   ‘What on earth gives him the right, now, to just throw it in the air and say ‘I’ve had enough, I’m off’? It’s selfish, it’s immoral, it’s potentially devastating for the game as a whole. It’s wrong,’ he added.
   Ronaldo signed a new five-year contract with Manchester in April 2007 after being linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.
   He joined the English side in August 2003 from Portuguese first division side Sporting Lisbon on a five-year contract which he extended by a further two years in November 2005.

AC Milan’s new signing Ronaldinho claims the time was right to make his move to the San Siro.
   The 28-year-old trained on Friday for the first time with his new team-mates after completing his move to the Rossoneri 24 hours earlier.
   The former two-time World Player of the Year signed a three-year contract at the San Siro after enduring a frustrating campaign with Barcelona.
   ‘I believe this was the right time to arrive to AC Milan,’ said Ronaldinho. ‘I have come to Milan with the idea of winning and I hope I can clinch many titles at this winning club. I’m still young but I hope my experience can be of help for our aims.’
   Ronaldinho had been a target for AC Milan in previous years but Barca had been reluctant to sell the Brazil international until now.
   Milan finally secured the services of the Catalan giants’ talisman with a 21-million euro bid as they edged out English Premier League side Manchester City.
   He is thought to be Milan’s final purchase of the summer and his arrival has generated a wave of excitement which the Italian media are calling ‘Dinho mania’.
   Thousands of spectators gathered outside Milanello in the hope of catching a glimpse of Milan’s new signing on Wednesday while 40,000 fans turned up to the San Siro 24 hours later for his presentation ceremony. ‘I want to thank the fans for their warm welcome,’ said Ronaldinho.
   ‘This is something that really motivates me and I hope I can repay them.’
   AC Milan fans will have to be patient to watch Ronaldinho in action in the Rossoneri colours, as the playmaker will soon join Brazil in preparation for next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing.
   Ronaldinho is looking forward to making his debut in Serie A after five seasons at the Nou Camp. Injury woes and lack of form saw Ronaldinho lose his starting spot at Barca last term, but the South American star is eager to demonstrate the skills that twice saw him win the World Player of the Year award.
   ‘The Italian league is one of the most competitive tournaments in the world,’ he said. ‘I cannot say much about the league because I haven’t played in it.
   ‘But I am very positive and I think things will go better.’
   Milan will be hoping that will be the case as they hope to bounce back from last season’s disappointing campaign where they finished fifth, a result that saw them miss out on a Champions League spot.
   ‘Whoever has had the opportunity to play in such a prestigious competition as the Champions League knows its importance,’ said Ronaldinho, who won the trophy in the 2005-06 campaign.
   ‘Not to be able to play in this competition this year motivates me all the more to help Milan return to play in the Champions League.’

Luiz Felipe Scolari may have been charged with restoring some King’s Road swagger to Chelsea, but old habits clearly die hard for the Brazilian.
   Scolari’s penchant for tough training sessions brought the World Cup to his native country and banished Portugal’s flaky reputation on the international stage, so there have been few complaints from Chelsea’s millionaire superstars during a rigorous pre-season at the club’s plush Surrey headquarters.
   The west Londoners have been training twice daily under Scolari’s watchful eye since he began work in early July and are about to embark on an arduous two-and-a-half week tour of China, Malaysia and Russia, which begins on Sunday.
   For Deco, the club’s new eight million pounds (10 million euros) signing, there is nothing surprising about Scolari’s punishing schedules.
   The Portuguese playmaker experienced them at first hand during the 59-year-old’s spell as Portugal head coach, although they are a far cry from the approach taken at his former club, Barcelona.
   At Camp Nou, training was famously – or perhaps notoriously – relaxed. Frank Rijkaard, the club’s former head coach, was criticised by sections of the Catalan press for a laid-back approach which, they claimed, was reflected in the club’s failure to win a trophy last season.
   Deco, for his part, prefers Scolari’s more intense style. ‘I have noticed that we are training more here which I like,’ he said.
   ‘We train in the mornings and in the afternoons as well and we spend more time together to recover from the sessions. That helps us get on more as players because we are spending time together as a group.
   ‘During training, the manager is harder than he normally is. He is a very friendly, affectionate guy. but when he works he takes it very seriously. He wants players to be dedicated – not playing around – so you have to work hard and that is fine for everyone.’
   Deco has more reason than most for craving success at Stamford Bridge this season.
   The 29-year-old endured a frustrating campaign at Barca last year, with his attitude and aptitude publicly questioned by president Juan Laporta just prior to his departure, although he was not alone. Ronaldinho was also ostracised, with the Brazilian subsequently joining AC Milan.
   ‘I’m pleased that Ronnie found the best solution for him because it was important that he left Barcelona,’ Deco added.
   ‘I must say that I think they were very unfair to him. For me, Ronnie was the best player Barcelona ever had. Now he has joined a club which will give him what he needs.
   ‘As for me, Chelsea is the best place for me to come. It is great that there are so many good players at the club, because that is what I am used to.
   ‘The times I have played against Chelsea in the past have always been very hard, so I know that we can win the Champions League and the Premier League again.’
   Chelsea’s chances of doing that rest not just on Scolari’s ability to attract more of world football’s top talents to Stamford Bridge, but also keeping the ones already on the pay-roll.
   Deco appealed to the club’s powerbrokers to keep Frank Lampard during his official unveiling on Friday and Didier Drogba, also linked with a move to the continent, was also singled out for praise.
   ‘Drogba is one of the best centre-forwards in the world and all the big clubs want players like him,’ Deco said. ‘I don’t know whether he will stay but I want him to stay and I would love to play with him because he is a fantastic player.
   ‘To win the Champions League, you need players like Drogba. So I am not surprised that all the clubs are trying to get him out of Chelsea.’

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy on Friday described the conduct of Manchester United and Liverpool as ‘disgraceful’ in their respective pursuits of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane.
   A furious Levy claimed his Premier League rivals have been ‘systematically been working to prise the players away from us’.
   United boss Ferguson confirmed earlier Friday that United, who have been infuriated by Real Madrid’s public pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer, have made a bid for Berbatov and that he eventually expects the deal to go through.
   Spurs have also been angered by the comments of Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who went public last week by revealing Republic of Ireland captain Keane as a target for the Reds.
   Levy issued the following lengthy statement on his club’s official website, www.tottenhamhotspur.com: ‘Today’s public comments by Manchester United’s manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players.
   ‘It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date and is unbelievably hypocritical given his recent comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.
   ‘This comes after a series of events, dating back to last summer, which have shown Manchester United to be in breach of Premier League rules.
   ‘As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Manchester United.
   ‘Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the Premier League about the conduct of Liverpool earlier this week.
   ‘The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player.
   ‘Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of Premier League rules of conduct.
   ‘Our subsequent position has been severely compromised by both clubs making their intentions widely known and indeed making contact with the players and their agents, without the club’s permission.’
   Benitez and Spurs have clashed before, in March 2006, when the Liverpool boss claimed Spurs were ‘desperate’ to sell Jermain Defoe and take Djibril Cisse.
   Later Friday, United responded to Tottenham’s claims.
   A spokesman said. ‘We are aware of the allegation and will co-operate with the Premier League as necessary.’

Britain’s Mark Cavendish claimed his fourth victory on the Tour de France here Friday after dominating another bunch sprint at the end of the 182.5km 13th stage from Narbonne to Nimes.
   Australian Cadel Evans retained the race leader’s yellow jersey ahead of Saturday’s 14th stage from here to Dignes-les-Bains at the foot of the Alps.
   Only 24 hours after his record-setting victory on stage 12, Cavendish reinforced his reputation as the race’s fastest sprinter after outgunning Evans’ Silence-Lotto teammate Robbie McEwen.
   McEwen finished second, with Frenchman Roman Feillu, of the Agritubel team, claiming third place ahead of German Heinrich Haussler and Spaniard Oscar Freire.
   ‘I had to give it a final push and give it full gas again at the end because when I did the initial kick I didn’t realise there was a headwind at the finish,’ said Cavendish.
   ‘I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m going to have to get a further advantage’ and so I put in another kick with about 100 to go in case I died. I didn’t die and I was able to hold on so I’m pleased.’
   Cavendish’s fourth win on the race means he has now equalled the impressive feats of respected sprinters Mario Cipollini and Alessandro Petacchi, both of whom won four wins from single editions, in 1999 and 2003 respectively.
   To put his success into perspective, Cavendish - on only his second Tour participation - already has a quarter of the 12 stages won by McEwen, one of the elder statesmen of the race.
   The 23-year-old Manxman also raised the bar a notch higher for British riders on the race, having beaten Barry Hoban’s all-time record of two stage wins in a single edition by winning Thursday’s 12th stage.
   Cavendish fought back his frustration on Thursday when asked his feelings about the doping scandals that have rocked the Tour.
   After his latest win, he quickly declared that all he was interested in discussing was his and his Columbia team’s achievements.
   ‘We all work so well and so selflessly, and that shows in our results. I love these guys like my brothers,’ said Cavendish, who added that each of his stage wins was different.
   ‘For sure my favourite one is the first one, the team held it so well together for me. Yesterday I was able to go so far from the finish.
   ‘Today was the hardest one, I sprinted in my normal fashion and jumped off the train and went for the line.
   ‘But at the end of the day, a win’s a win. I’ve done my job for the day.’
   McEwen had so far had few chances to unleash his trademark sprint for the line, but once he did the 34-year-old came up against a rider he has described as ‘just too strong’.
   ‘I did two sprints, the first one was 500 metres with my nose in the wind to try and get a good position, then a second one just before the line.
   ‘But Cavendish is simply too strong and too fast,’ said McEwen.
   ‘This was the first time that I’ve really had a chance to do my sprint, and so it’s a relief. I’m glad I was able to sprint, finally. But in the end I was beaten fair and square.’
   Cavendish acknowledged that he is leaving only crumbs for all his sprint rivals. So far Oscar Freire, McEwen, Gert Steegmans and a few other big names have failed to raise their arms in triumph.
   However, the Isle of Man rider, who will compete in the Madison for Britain at the Olympic Games in Beijing, is feeling sorry for no one.
   ‘I’ve even had a couple of text messages from the other team managers joking that I have to leave them a stage,’ added Cavendish.
   ‘But at the end of the day I’m here to do a job, it’s unfortunate for them.’